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Holy Sea Consortium
The largest trade group in Huervo Nache and of the bigger in the Gulf, Holy Sea started as a lone rafter from The Big Easy. Slowly buying out and employing his competition, he would soon have the largest company in the city. History The Consortium was founded in 2200 after it's founder, Jean Orleans bought two rafts from rival merchants. An immigrant from New Orleans, Jean had been traveling the waters of The Gulf Belt since he was twelve, and came to The Papal States in 2192. There he would save up enough to buy out one competitor. After several more moths, he bought out another. Now with three rafts and eleven hands, Orleans led his fleet up and down The Gulf, buying dyes and feathers in the Yucatan and trading them for weapons and chems in The Big Easy before selling them in the Corpse Coast. by 2204 this route would allow Orleans to purchase a small office near the docks and to dabble in speculation. The lack of climate control made this a short-lived venture however. in 2206 Orleans bought out another crew and reduced his route to catering to the impressionable nobles of the Papal States, often with pre-war trinkets and new clothes.Demand slowed two years later, and yet again the consortium switched the fleet's route, this time returning to the Yucatan. Here they traded tools and manufactured goods for feathers, dyes and other such 'exotic' items, selling them in The Big Easy. This profit attracted pirates in 2211, with a raft being lost in May off the shore of the Corpse. This was followed by a crew contracting malaria. To maintain the craft, the consortium redistributed the remaining sailors and hired on mercenaries as marines. They returned to the Texas-Tamaulipas route region to cut down on trip expenses, and fought off six more pirate attacks over the next three years. In the last attack, the mercenaries actually managed to board and and capture a pirate vessel, killing the crew, and splitting the treasure. This gain allowed the consortium to buy another raft, and to return to the longer route around the western portion of the belt. Orleans also took his eleven-year old twins Etienne and Angelica with him over the objection of their mother. The children developed a love for the sea, and their father returned them to land after four months, though would take them out again whenever their mother approved. in 2217 the Consortium managed to save enough to purchase a small warehouse near the waterfront and again dabbled in speculation, this time in small engines. To this end Holy Sea hired a mechanic a wagon of spare parts. This paid off in 2220 when the Consortium was able to mount engines on two of it's craft, enabling them to travel twice as fast. This also caused the issue of what to do with the other three rafts, as Orleans couldn't supervise them himself. He thus entrusted his children, now 17, with watching over them, rotating the captaincy. This arrangement worked for a time, but after several months Etienne indicated that he wished to work in the office. Suspecting a simple sibling clash, Jean granted this request, checking in the pair daily on radio. After a storm destroyed two recently purchased rafts in 2223, Orleans called the rafts back to Huervo Nache, where he told his crews he was selling the consortium. Quieting the protests, Orleans told them he was going to invest in pre-war craft, such as trawlers. While not unknown in the post-war world, they were known to be generally unreliable and many thought the elderly Orleans had lost it. This proved to be a shrewd move however, as the vessels were in decent shape, with much greater capacity than the rafts. The consortium covered the cost of the buy in three years, and began turning profit, transporting wheat, coal and other bulk cargoes around the belt. Jean Orleans died in 2230, a crude will declaring that the children go to his children, as long as they didn't sell their shares to anyone other than the other. The twins agreed, and continued operations with a minimum of disruption, with Etienne running the office and warehouse, and Angelica in charge of the ships. 2232 saw the Consortium buyout another rival, employing them to go down rivers and waterways impassable for the larger craft. This expanded their reach beyond the gulf coast, with the Consortium entering the Rio Grande and trading with the inland communities there.This would be a brief period however, as bandits disguised as tribals, hailed the craft down and murdered the crew. The company's bottom-line was hurt, but the sea-going vessels were still trading well. In 2238 the Consortium shifted their route east, due to rumors about a brewing conflict. To this end they stocked up on arms, ammo, and armor as well as medicine, and headed east of New Orleans. While they were able to unload their cargo in the Klansmen Confederacy, they were unable to catch a major conflict. They shifted back west five years later, though now included the nobles of the young Royaume in the fashion trade. The Consortium began to organize an expedition to Belize in 2247, where rumors stated that cattle were in great demand. The ships set out in early 2248, and encountered fair seas and received a fair profit, but the windfall they had led themselves to believe was coming. Regardless, the Consortium added Belize to their route every five months. Pirates became a problem again in 2252, harassing Consortium ships seemingly every week. This continued for the next two years, with a merchant raft being lost for every four pirate attacks repelled. Barely making a profit, the Orleans twins came to a decisive plan, gathering all their remaining ships and outfitting them as if for a large expedition. At the same time they quietly hired mercenaries and gunmen, loading them in the holds of the larger ships the night before launch. The next day the ships headed south, and after several hours a large pirate flotilla appeared in the distance. The merchant fleet tried to turn and return to the city, and the normal marines fired as the pirates came closer. As the pirates boarded them however, the mercenaries burst forth from their holds, and started shooting down the surprised pirates. In a matter of minutes the situation was reversed, and ended with the pirates captured and the merchants sailing the whole fleet back to town. As soon as the first few craft docked, the Orleans' and their guards marched the prisoners to the Duke's palace, and demanded an audience despite the late hour. After some waiting, Duke Legon appeared and the prisoners confessed that they were hired by a rival company to target the Consortium. Legon then sent his guard and the militia to apprehend and bring the officers and owners of this company to him to refute these charges. Once they arrived however, several of the shipping clerks admitted to hearing the plot and reports of attacks. Having heard enough, Legon ordered all assets turned over to the Consortium as well as the bounty due on the 'pirates.' As a result, at the end of this affair the Holy Sea Consortium became the pre-eminent shipping company in the city. Things were relatively quiet for the company in the next decade, with the exception of the next generation of Orleans' earning their sea legs and going on to positions in the Consortium. This changed with the declaration of the Saltlands Wars, which was a boon to the company, who supplied warbands with arms, reinforcements and general supplies. Pirate attacks flared up again during this time, forcing the consortium to increase the size of their convoys and reducing the number of runs they take. The post-war years was also profitable, with the new nobility and outposts requiring supplies, as well as transportation for their various officials. The twins died in 2276, with their joint will looking much like their father's, stating that their children must work together and couldn't sell their shares outside the family. this caused more turbulence than their own assumption of leadership. but two years later things were back to normal. In 2281 the Consortium took a gamble by commissioning the city dry-docks to construct a galley like the pair ordered by the duke. This has ran far behind schedule and over budget, but most of the Orleans believe it will pay off once finished. The consortium in currently maintaining it's route along the western belt, though are eagerly making plans to further it as soon as the galley is ready. Activities & Interests The consortium engages in trading along the Gulf Belt for almost it's profits, traveling from the Royaume in the north, to Belize in the south. They buy and sell almost everything imaginable, with the exception of slaves and fresh fruit. While this may seem odd at first, it is due to the difficulty in transporting them, with fruit rotting, and slaves needing food and water. They also speculate about the future of some commodities, stockpiling or dumping them as willed. While this causes some ripples in local markets, they lack the influence to effect the larger belt. Leadership The Orleans family has complete control over the Consortium and fills many important positions in it, with members working in the office, warehouses, as well as on the sea. For major decisions, such as expeditions, a vote is needed, which has become difficult due to the number of Orleans' as well as the tendency of the captains to be out of town. Category:Groups Category:Caravan Companies Category:Tamaulipas